Just a word of warning, if its the mk1 MG ZR then the build quality is pathetic. My friend has one and its falling to pieces the electric window switch is down near the handbrake and if you pull it back (to make the window go down) it sometimes hinges back the bit it is attached to. My mate plugged in his iphone charger into the 12volt and when he pulled it out the whole 12volt barrel came out. The passenger side door card is coming away so its a balancing act of power to get the door shut without ripping the door card off. The petrol gauge stopped working, so he called out the AA because he had broken down when actually he just had no petrol . The electrics started going wrong, all the interior bulbs blew then a week later it wouldn't start. We eventually found that the battery ground to the body had eroded away. The panels feel a little flimsy as well. But the seats are great, and you have quite a nice driving position. It stays reasonably flat around corners a lot flatter than my focus. And I am going to sound like a dick here after the goings on in previous pages, but my focus is faster hehe. On paper its not quite as quick to 60 (0.7 secs less) but has a higher top speed, not that either of us have gone that fast. But the smaller engine of the MG lacks a bit of torque, the focus isn't a torque monster by any stretch of the imagination, but you can really tell the difference when having to pick up speed again after slowing down. One thing I would add as well, I don't think many people think about it as much as me. But I am a little odd, not really a worrier but more of a preparer. I always think when you try out a car, how would you feel having a crash in it, it sounds crazy but that day might come and you want to feel safe. Edit: Seems I took what okenobi said a bit too personally and in the wrong way. Sorry about that.
It's a Rover 25. A partially British Leyland design, from 1995 as a whole and the early Eighties (the suspension, for example, is from the 1983 MG Maestro) in significant parts. It's part Honda, who know how to do cheap, taken to a level of cheapness that cars are not meant to sustain. Worse, it was built by striking Communists, who had all the job satisfaction of a sumo wrestler's arse wiper and no conception of quality control, managed by people so colossally incompetent that they drove the company out of business. What did people think it would be like? I wouldn't touch it with a s***y stick, no offence to any proud Rover owners. A Focus, Golf, A3 or Integra will be quite literally light years away in terms of build. And what Matticus says about crashing is right; I took my first car gravel rallying so I shudder to think what horrors yours'll suffer. You want a car that you can get into in the knowledge that it's 'safe' without having to really think about it.
Fair enough. I think you're gonna struggle to insure any other 1.8T as they are all "sports" models. Jap is also difficult because the parts are more expensive, which ups insurance and any Type R is likely to be prohibitive. You could look at a 1.5Vtec Civic up to 2001. About as quick as your mate, maybe slightly slower. Better built and equipped, and drives really nice. Great driving position and a huge aftermarket if you want suspension etc. Not to mention, economical. The other option as I already said is a 110 derv from the Germans. So that's a MK4 Golf, old A3, Leon, or if you're lucky an Ibiza. Although the Ibiza isn't quite as well put together or specced. That'll give you 11ish secs to 60, but more torque, nicer response curve and more money in your pocket week in, week out.
I couldnt disagree more, Part for japanese cars are way cheaper than any german car going, and the TypeR badge doesnt really attract massive insurance premiums. The integra is only a 1.8 and for me at least, was the same to insure as a 130 golf Tdi. I didnt get it because i needed something a little more practical.
Fair play. It's been a while since I got quoted for Jap. I was told at the time that it was due to high servicing costs. Maybe worth a look then...
Doesn't sound crazy at all. And I would be perfectly happy to have another crash in a Focus. That was after someone changed lane on the motorway, hit my right rear wing and spun us 720 degrees in to the central reservation at 70 miles an hour. My girlfriend and I walk straight out. Some whiplash and bruises but I was amazed we could walk away like that. Now I drive a mazda 3 which is built on the same chassis as the new focus. More airbags and even safer! much Nicer car too but not sure you would get one for 2500. Edit: off topic, but after just uploading that pic, photobucket wants to sell me mousemats and mugs with it on. Nice and sensitive there!
That picture above reminds me of when I was driving my dads mondeo. It was seconds from my house just driving down the "back road" which connects up the 3 difference streets in my little area. A girl coming in the opposite direction just pulled straight out in front of me. I slammed on the brakes and turned away from her, but it was too late and I hit her pretty hard. Her clio (II) was written off, the whole passenger side was very badly damaged, if someone had been in the passenger seat I have no doubt they would have been injured. The light on the mondeo didn't even fully smashed, the fog light surround fell out and the bonnet was a bit folded over. Me, my dad and my brother were perfectly fine. The moral of that story is not to listen to music stupidly loud in your car, pay no attention to the road and then pull out in front of people!!! But the real moral is, safer cars are safe!
Have you looked at the Skoda Fabia vRS? I have the standard skoda fabia 1.9TDi - its a fantastic motor for the money. The standard 1.9Tdi is only group 6 insurance too.
If he didn't like the look of the Octy, he definitely isn't gonna want a standard Furby and the vRS is way over budget!
I skimmed the thread, must of missed the octy comment. Thought the vrs's could be had for cheaper n all. Ah well. Skoda <3
If they could, I might've bought one myself! But they're still around £5-6K for a reasonable one. To Pie_uk, glad your happy What about the OP? Any news?
There are about 6 MG-ZRs floating around where I live, all failing to fall to bits, and I owned a rover 25 from new to 3 yrs 4 months & the only things that required replacing were 2 front tyres & the exhaust after 3 yrs 1 month. Not bad for an £8k car with 5 doors, whoever made it. The big problem with the k-16 related mainly to the 1.8l unit that went into the Freelander, though to a lesser extent the highly tuned unit that went into the Lotus Elise also sufferred. It's a job that can be dealt with proactively by folk like that fantastic wee place in Coventry, JE engineering, who will also fit an ITG induction filter & performance exhaust off the same powerplant, and bore it out to 1.9. We did these to my wife's freelander (not the bore-out, though), 0-60 in around 8 seconds....just the induction filter widened out the power & torque band so delivery was solid from 2krpm all the way up to 6. Perhaps thats an option? instead of looking at what it does, just at what it *can do* with an extra £800 or so. Jeez, my TD5 Disco could get a power boost to 175 bhp for a paltry £500 without having to modify anything. So just maybe worthy of consideration, not going for a probably thraped LEON Cupra R, but instead the biggest naturally aspirated engine for a lot less & get it modded....or is modding a car a bit too scary?
Looks like it's a bit of a lottery, then. The only two R25-based cars I know of - a Rover 25 and an MG-ZR - both fell to pieces within a month of secondhand purchase, both with less than 50k on the clock. The interiors just fell apart and then the electrics went and then the drivetrain on the 25 and the brakes on the ZR and then they were both scrapped. And of course, Land Rover had a slightly similar issue; Still, the Silvia should be a laugh!
Congrats mate. I was going to buy an s14a about 5 years ago and back then they were about 3 to 4 thousand. Got any mods planned?
